Dr. Brenda Wristen
University music students may be especially at risk for occupational injury. Understanding student health states and behaviors can help educators promote good habits during a time when these students are still in a formative stage, helping to prevent injuries during the intensive years of university study and laying the foundation for a lifetime of healthy music-making.
Dr. Brenda Wristen is Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy in the Glenn Korff School of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her primary research interests are the occupational health of musicians, particularly health behaviors of university student musicians, and the biomechanics of piano technique including the special needs of small-handed pianists. Dr. Wristen is co-author of the ground-breaking book Adaptive Strategies for Small-Handed Pianists, published by Oxford University Press. Other research projects have included studies of adult recreational pianists and a collaborative ergonomic study of the 7/8 size ergonomically-scaled piano keyboard, which was awarded “Discoveries and Breakthroughs Inside Science” recognition by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the American Institute of Physics. She has presented her research at numerous meetings of international, national, state, and local associations and has published in American Music Teacher, Medical Problems of Performing Artists, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Music Education Research, Clavier, Keyboard Companion, and Piano Pedagogy Forum. In addition to her teaching and research activities, Dr. Wristen is an active piano clinician, adjudicator, and performer.